


Promises, Promises

by MirrorMystic



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Tailwind Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 10:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13679922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorMystic/pseuds/MirrorMystic
Summary: They swore they’d be together “forever”, as if they knew what that really meant.(Or: Three best friends, truth or dare, a couch, and a confession.)





	Promises, Promises

**Author's Note:**

> A mostly standalone piece, though it ties in with 'The Vanguard' if you squint. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. I hope you all enjoy the read. ^^

~*~  
  
Some things just go without saying.  
  
Some things are just so natural, so taken for granted, that to say it out loud would just be stating the obvious. Why bother announcing it, if it isn’t news?  
  
Well, if anybody could be counted on to state the obvious, loudly, obnoxiously, and usually in public, it was Ryuji.  
  
“It’s fucking hot!” Ryuji groaned.  
  
He sank into his seat on Ann’s couch as if he were melting. Shiho was a puddle beside him, her chin propped up on the opposite armrest, the rest of her just sprawled, boneless and limp, across the couch and Ryuji’s legs. Ann’s air conditioner was fighting a losing battle, fitfully chugging away, occasionally stopping and starting again with a bronchial clatter.  
  
“Record temperatures all week,” Ann muttered, flicking through her phone from her perch atop the back of the couch.  
  
“How are the others doing?” Shiho wondered.  
  
“See for yourself,” Ann said wearily, handing over her phone. A pair of familiar voices drifted up from the speaker.  
  
_“Listen, if you just made a summer menu-”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Summer menu? The regular menu’s worked just fine for-”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Nobody wants hot coffee in the middle of the summer!”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“What does that sign say, huh? Coffee. And. Curry. Not iced tea and chain store swill!”_  
  
While Akira and Sojiro bickered in the background, Futaba sat with her chin in her hand and a weary expression, getting it all on camera.  
  
_They’ve been doing this all day_ , read the banner across the screen.  
  
“This heat wave is relentless,” Shiho murmured, returning Ann’s phone. “Thank you for letting us stay with you, Ann. I think you’re the only one of us who has their own air conditioner.”  
  
“It’s ‘cuz Ann’s _rich_ ,” Ryuji teased.  
  
“I’m not _rich_ ,” Ann rolled her eyes. “My _parents_ are rich. They just let me use their stuff.”  
  
“What would the others say, if they found out?” Shiho wondered. “I don’t think they’d appreciate you holding out on them.”  
  
“That’s why they’re _not_ going to find out,” Ann said, grinning.  
  
Shiho reluctantly pulled herself up into her seat, making room for Ann on the couch. Ann flopped down between them, and promptly turned sideways, laying her head on Shiho’s lap and draping her legs across Ryuji’s.  
  
“Besides,” Ann said, settling in with a sigh, “it’s nice to have you two all to myself.”  
  
There were plenty of things Shiho and Ryuji could have said to that, either in gratitude or in playful mockery. If anything, *they* were lucky to have Ann to themselves- since, by now, it was no secret how just about everyone in the Phantom Thieves was at least a little enamored with Ann. If Ann asked any one of them out- any of them, even the honorary Thieves like Mishima, Hifumi, or Kana- it was doubtful that anyone would say no.  
  
Ann was a treasure, after all. Some things just went without saying. But, leave it to Ryuji…  
  
“Get off of me,” Ryuji grumbled, shoving Ann’s knees away. “It’s hot enough without you getting all up in my space.”  
  
“Please,” Ann’s eyes glittered. “I’m always hot.”  
  
“Not when you’re all sweaty, you ain’t.”  
  
“I just showered!” Ann huffed, indignant. “I’m about to go take _another_ one, with how hot it is out here…”  
  
Ann lay back, one arm behind her head, the other resting on her stomach. Somehow, Shiho and Ryuji each found one of her hands. Ann laced their fingers together, without any fuss.  
  
“We should get up,” Ryuji said. “We can’t just stay on the couch all day.”  
  
“Yeah,” Shiho shrugged.  
  
“Yeah…” Ann echoed.  
  
Nobody moved.  
  
“...We can play truth or dare,” Shiho suggested.  
  
“For real?” Ryuji blinked, dubious. “Are we seriously that bored?”  
  
“I’ll play, I’ll play,” Ann chimed in. “Shiho, truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
Ann smiled cheekily. “How much do you love me?”  
  
Shiho giggled. “...A whole lot…”  
  
Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Sure, give Shiho the easy questions.”  
  
Shiho smiled impishly. “Alright, then, Ryuji. Truth or dare?”  
  
Ryuji felt adventurous. “Dare,” he said.  
  
“Close your eyes.”  
  
Ryuji made a face, before doing as he was told. He felt Ann’s weight shift, and heard some shuffling beside him.  
  
“...Are you guys taking off your bras?” Ryuji wondered.  
  
“No,” Ann said, casually slingshotting a pair of bras into the corner of the room.  
  
Ryuji opened one eye. “Boob sweat finally got to you, huh?”  
  
“Don’t ask me about my boob sweat in my own house,” Ann muttered, at the same time Shiho was blurting out “Yes! It’s the worst!”  
  
“Come on, give me a real one,” Ryuji grumbled.  
  
“Alright,” Ann said. “Truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
Ann smirked, pointedly sliding her legs across Ryuji’s lap.  
  
“...Do you have a b-”  
  
“You’re done,” Ryuji said sharply. He glanced at Shiho and sighed. “Shiho, truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
“When did you first fall for Ann?”  
  
“A little while after I fell off the roof,” Shiho said dryly. Ryuji choked.  
  
“Shit. Shiho, I-”  
  
“Relax,” Shiho smiled, laughing. “Honestly? As trite as it sounds… there’s too many moments to count. Although, if I had to pick one... “  
  
Shiho looked up, basking in the memory. “...It was at physical therapy. I was on the parallel bars, and Ann was at the end of the track. She was cheering for me, cupping her hands around her mouth even though she was barely five feet away. Then, I… I slipped, and I fell, and… she caught me.”  
  
Ryuji nodded, listening intently, while Ann’s face gradually turned cherry-red.  
  
Shiho blushed, continuing. “She picked me up, and held me, and she was just… so…” Shiho trailed off, embarrassed. “You should have seen it. My heart was going crazy.”  
  
“I thought your heart was pounding because of physical therapy…!” Ann squeaked.  
  
“No,” Shiho smiled. “No, that was all you.”  
  
Ann swiftly lost her capacity to create coherent words. She sat bolt upright on the couch and pulled Shiho into her arms with an adoring squeal. Shiho laughed, delighted, as Ann hugged her and shook her like a plush toy.  
  
“When they discharged me from the hospital, we swore we’d keep in touch. And here we are.”  
  
Shiho grinned over Ann’s shoulder, catching Ryuji’s eyes.  
  
“So. Ryuji?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
Shiho smiled. “Same question.”  
  
“Well,” Ryuji began, drumming his fingers on Ann’s knee. Ann was beginning to recover from nearly drowning with affection for Shiho. “The obvious answer is ‘the day I bleached my hair for her’, but it really wasn’t that simple.”  
  
“Wasn’t that your first kiss?” Shiho pressed, eager.  
  
Ryuji rolled his eyes. “We were twelve. It didn’t count.”  
  
Ann cut in. “We were thirteen, and it _does_ count.”  
  
“Whatever,” Ryuji shrugged. “Point is, the actual first time? It was right after I broke my leg.”  
  
Shiho nodded, growing somber. Ryuji continued.  
  
“I’d just come back from the hospital. I was pissed as all hell. They discharged me, but they still put me on bedrest, so I couldn’t even go to school. So for awhile, it was just me in my room, alone with all this… this anger, buzzing in my head. Because of what he did.”  
  
Shiho winced at the mere mention of Suguru Kamoshida. Ryuji took a seething breath, and let it out slow.  
  
“...Y’know, nobody from the track team came to visit? Not one of them. Buncha jerks. But you did,” Ryuji said gently, glancing up and meeting Ann’s eyes. He patted her knee. “You came to my place with a get-well-soon bouquet and a bag full of takeout, and we swore. It… It took awhile after that. Until Akira showed up, in April, almost a year later. But we swore we’d get him. And we did.”  
  
Ryuji sat back, grinning.  
  
“Although, if people ask, I tell ‘em the ‘day I bleached my hair’ story. I like that one better. I’m cooler in that story, asking a bunch of third-years if they want to pull my hair, instead of laying in bed with a broken leg and watching Sailor Moon with you for a week.”  
  
Ryuji sighed, wistful.  
  
“...I’ll never forget that,” Ryuji murmured. He met Ann’s eyes. “When I had nobody else, I had you.”  
  
Ann’s eyes grew wet.  
  
“You… You idiot!” Ann laughed through her tears, punching Ryuji in the arm. “You can’t just… You can’t just _say_ stuff like that!”  
  
“But it’s the truth,” Shiho offered.  
  
Ann curled an arm around both Shiho and Ryuji’s shoulders and pulled them into a hug.  
  
“Shut up,” Ann gasped, her cheeks wet. “Shut up! Now I’m crying… I hate you…”  
  
Ann held them close, a warm and welcoming tangle of limbs, the sweltering summer heat momentarily forgotten. Ryuji and Shiho laced their fingers together and rested their hands on Ann’s stomach. Part of love, Ann knew, was allowing yourself to be vulnerable, which is why she didn’t think twice about Ryuji and Shiho being in prime position to tickle her to death.  
  
“It’s your turn,” Shiho said, her chin tucked over Ann’s shoulder.  
  
“Alright,” Ann turned, bumping her head against Ryuji’s like a cat. “Ryuji. Truth or dare?”  
  
“Dare.”  
  
“Hm… I dare you to… pay me back that 3000 yen you still owe me.”  
  
“That’s not a real dare.”  
  
“Is too.”  
  
“Here we were, having a nice moment…” Ryuji reluctantly untangled himself from the girls and went looking for his wallet. He returned, making a face.  
  
“...Yeah, I don’t have any cash on me,” Ryuji said, tossing his wallet aside. “I’ll owe you?”  
  
“Are you ever gonna pay me back?” Ann pouted.  
  
“I’m gonna, I’m gonna…”  
  
“Swear it.”  
  
Ryuji looked at her, dubious. “For real?”  
  
“Yes.” Ann held up her hand, extending her pinky. “Swear it.”  
  
Ryuji smiled and shook his head, looping his pinky around Ann’s.  
  
“Fine. I, Ryuji Sakamoto, am gonna pay you back. Eventually. Pinky swear.”  
  
“Good,” Ann chirped.  
  
“Whatever,” Ryuji laughed. He rolled his eyes and fell back into the crook of Ann’s shoulder like it was where he was born to be. “Alright, my turn. Shiho. Truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
Ryuji glanced up at Ann, playful, before meeting Shiho’s eyes.  
  
“When was the _second_ time you fell for Ann?”  
  
The afternoon ambled by at a languid pace, Tokyo’s oppressive heat mellowing into the soothing warmth of memory. With a few exceptions (“You can’t dare me to go to the corner store for ice cream. It’ll melt before I get back.”) the trio’s game of truth or dare just became an excuse to reminisce about their favorite times together, their favorite things about each other. There was that road trip to Osaka with the whole gang; there was that camping trip in Inaba with just the three of them; there was Shiho’s serene smile in the moonlight, Ryuji’s devil-may-care grin first thing in the morning, and the look of overwhelming fondness in Ann’s face whenever she saw either of them.  
  
They held each other, and melted into the moment’s intoxicating intimacy. The present became a soothing glow of warmth and light, while the past crystallized in their memory.  
  
But when the questions started veering towards the future, well…  
  
That’s where they hit a snag.  
  
“Do you think we’ll still be doing this in, like, five, ten years?” Ryuji asked.  
  
Ann went quiet. She leaned back in her seat and blew out a sigh.  
  
“...I want to say ‘of course’,” Ann murmured, unusually somber. “Obviously, I don’t think this house, or this couch, is going anywhere anytime soon. And you guys will still be here in ten years… but… I don’t know.”  
  
“You don’t know?” Ryuji echoed.  
  
“It’s just that, well, we’re gonna be busier, right?” Ann continued. “In ten years, Shiho’s gonna be a full-fledged nurse, so her schedule’s gonna be crazy, I’ll be an actress- knock on wood- and you’ll be helping Akira run Leblanc so Sojiro can finally retire and become a mahjong king. We won’t have summers like these, where we can just lay around on the couch all day. I mean, it’s not gonna be _bad_ , it’s just…”  
  
Ann huffed. “...Look, I don’t want to think about it, okay? We’ll be fine. We’ll always be fine.”  
  
Ryuji and Shiho exchanged worried glances. Ryuji bumped a knee into Ann’s.  
  
“Okay, well. It’s your turn.”  
  
“I don’t wanna go,” Ann shrugged. “You can just go again.”  
  
Ryuji sighed. “Alright. Shiho?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
Ryuji tried to think of a question, but the mood had changed. He waved his hand vaguely. “Look, I- I dunno. Surprise me. But be honest.”  
  
“Okay,” Shiho said. She took a deep breath, and met Ryuji’s eyes. “...Ryuji. I think I’m in love with you.”  
  
Ryuji blinked. It was certainly a surprise. He made a face, before bursting into laughter.  
  
Shiho was unamused.  
  
“It’s not funny!” She said, her voice turning brittle, frosty. “Why is that funny?”  
  
“Because I don’t believe you!” Ryuji crowed. “You’re in love with _me_ ? Please. You’re in love with _Ann_ . Ann and I are just a two-for-one deal.”  
  
Shiho sat up, staring Ryuji down. She didn’t put her hands on her hips or get in your face the way Ann did when she was annoyed- she just stared, a depth of feeling in her chestnut eyes.  
  
“What, so I can’t be in love with both of my best friends?” Shiho demanded. “Why is that so hard to believe?”  
  
“Because you two are you two, and I’m just me.”  
  
Ann sat up. She, too, was fixing Ryuji with an intent stare.  
  
“Ryuji,” Ann said softly. “What are you talking about?”  
  
Ryuji’s laughter turned sour, faltered. He squirmed under the weight of Ann and Shiho’s combined stare, his voice gaining an edge.  
  
“...Alright, it was a joke, okay? A joke.”  
  
“Ryuji,” Shiho pressed.  
  
Ryuji couldn’t say no to his name in her voice. He sighed, and relented.  
  
“Where are we going to be ten years from now?” Ryuji echoed his own question, just now realizing the can of worms he’d opened. “I know where you two will be. You’ll be with each other, where you’re supposed to be.”  
  
“You’re part of this, too,” Ann said firmly.  
  
“C’mon, Ann,” Ryuji said wearily. Clearly this was a conversation he’d had before, if not always out loud. “I… I love you guys. You know that. Ask me, and I’d follow you into Hell itself. But Shiho, you’re going into nursing, and Ann, you’re gonna be a fuckin’ movie star. Me? I’m working at Leblanc because Akira and old man Sojiro were the only ones who’d take me. You two are going somewhere I can’t follow.”  
  
“There’s nothing wrong with-”  
  
“You can always try to-”  
  
Ann and Shiho said at the same time, before stopping short, staring at the floor, shadows flicking across their faces. Ryuji heaved a sigh, leaning back in his seat.  
  
“Makoto told me I can retake the Center next January,” he said. “Maybe I’ll pass this time. She’s already sent me study guides. But what’s the point? I can’t afford to go to college.”  
  
Ann shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. Years of Ryuji hanging out at her house, while being reluctant, even embarrassed, to have her at his, were suddenly cast in a different light.  
  
“...Um,” Shiho began. “Maybe… Maybe Haru can-”  
  
“I’m not taking _donations_ !” Ryuji snarled so sharply that Shiho flinched.  
  
“Ryuji,” Ann said quietly.  
  
Ryuji caught himself. He took a deep breath, and let it out slow.  
  
“...I’m sorry,” he breathed out. “It’s just- I don’t know. I’m not just going to use Haru for her money. If I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna earn it.”  
  
A heavy silence settled over the group like a fog.  
  
“You know,” Ann spoke up. “If you’re set on going to college, you know that we’d find a way to get you there. We always find a way.”  
  
“Oh, yeah?” Ryuji muttered, disdainfully sticking his pinky out. “Swear it.”  
  
Ann knew he probably wasn’t serious, which is why she and Shiho curled her pinkies around his without a second thought.  
  
“We swear,” they said.  
  
Ryuji swallowed hard. He turned aside and quietly wiped his eyes.  
  
“...Whose turn is it?” He mumbled, smiling.  
  
“Mine,” Shiho said gently. “Ann. Truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth.”  
  
“What are you afraid of?”  
  
It was supposed to be a freebie. Just a casual question, to lighten the mood. After all, Ann had two answers ready to go- bugs, because she hated bugs, and swimming, because she took to water about as well as a cat.  
  
But other fears came to mind. Less tangible fears that nonetheless pressed down on them like the crushing heat of this summer evening. Fear of loss. Loneliness. Change. The fear of the world moving too fast, and being unable to keep up. Or, the fear of stagnation- of being trapped in routine and never growing further. Mostly, there was the feeling that this was too good to last. Like they’d wake up tomorrow, and suddenly, these days would be gone.  
  
Ann didn’t say any of those. Some things just went without saying. She gently untangled herself from Ryuji and Shiho, stood up, and stretched. They gazed up at her, attentive, sensing that their game of truth or dare was over. She took a deep breath, sighed, and felt their eyes on her.  
  
“We can’t stay on the couch all day,” Ann announced. “Let’s go to the roof.”  
  
~*~  
  
Sitting on the roof, bathed in the light of the setting sun, was certainly a romantic notion- in theory. In practice, the slope of the roof made it awkward to sit on, and the sun had baked the tiles so hot that they’d resorted to laying blankets down.  
  
Still, they didn’t back down. They climbed up, and sat, and linked their hands together. They gazed out at the sunset, bathed in pink and gold.  
  
For a moment, the painted sky stole all their words away. But Ryuji, who always had plenty of words to spare, couldn’t help but speak up.  
  
“Have you guys ever thought about getting married?”  
  
Shiho snorted. “Ryuji, this is so sudden…”  
  
“Why, Ryuji?” Ann teased. “One little heart-to-heart and you’re all ready to propose?”  
  
“Not me, you morons,” Ryuji said, grinning. “I’ll settle for best man.”  
  
“You _are_ the best, man,” Shiho tried and failed to say with a straight face.  
  
Ryuji preened. “Yeah, I am pretty great, aren’t I…?”  
  
“God, you guys are dorks,” Ann said, her head in her hands.  
  
They laid back on the roof, watching the streaks of pink and orange paint the evening sky. It was a perfectly clear, cloudless night. Out in the country, you’d have seen the stars.  
  
“Do you think we’ll ever have kids, someday?” Shiho wondered.  
  
“‘We’?” Ann asked, smirking.  
  
“You know what I mean.”  
  
“Who knows?” Ryuji shrugged. He squeezed Shiho’s hand, their fingers laced against Ann’s stomach. “Maybe in ten years, you two can have a science baby. They can do that shit, right? Mix two women’s DNA or whatever?”  
  
“That’d be cool,” Ann nodded. “Honestly? If it ever came down to it, I figured we’d ask Akira to be surrogate father.”  
  
Ryuji sputtered. “What! Why him?!”  
  
Shiho giggled. “Well… he kinda looks like me, doesn’t he?”  
  
“Yeah, a _little_ !” Ryuji huffed. “Why does _he_ get to be surrogate father?”  
  
“You got to be best man!” Ann protested, laughing. “I don’t want our baby to look like _you_ !”  
  
“You little-!”  
  
Ryuji dug his fingers into Ann’s stomach and she squealed. Shiho joined in, trailing her fingers up Ann’s sides, and Ann squirmed and flailed, filling the summer night with the peals of her laughter.  
  
“No! No, no, no, no- don’t! I will- I will slap you right off this roof! Ryuji!” Ann cried out, giggling madly. Ryuji and Shiho descended like sharks upon her, and, true enough, Ann’s flailing smacked Ryuji right in the face.  
  
“I’m sorry!” Ann clapped her hands over her mouth, but Shiho was still tickling her, and Ryuji was still laughing.  
  
“Are you okay?” Shiho giggled, as Ann wrestled her arms away.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Ryuji grinned. Ann leaned in and gave him an apologetic peck on his nose. Ryuji rolled his eyes and playfully shoved her away.  
  
They settled down, stifling giggles. The sun dipped below the horizon, and pink and gold faded to blue. Ann breathed out a sigh. Ryuji and Shiho huddled closer without a word.  
  
“It won’t always be like this, will it?” Ann murmured.  
  
“No,” Shiho said, somber.  
  
“But we’ll be with you,” Ryuji said. “No matter what.”  
  
Ann lifted her head to the sky, and raised her hand, pinky out.  
  
Some things just went without saying.  
  
Ann, Ryuji and Shiho stayed together on Ann’s roof, a warm, loving tangle of limbs. The sun set over Tokyo and over the three of them, but in the night, there was still warmth, and light.  
  
There were three young adults on a rooftop, gazing together into the boundless sky. There were three words that just went without saying- even if it was nice to say them, to hear them out loud.   
  
And there were three little fingers, linked in a promise.  
  
~*~


End file.
